Month: April 2021

Guest Post: A Day in the Life of Writing

By Cathy Jackson

The life of a writer is a strange and wonderful thing, and varies from person to person. To create new friends, introduce a reader to new places, and bring a novel to life is an amazing honor. It’s sometimes an easy process, but there are times we struggle to create even a simply phrase. Writing is an occupation that encompasses the mind and soul.

At least it does for me. My husband says I become manic when I write and “zone out” at the computer. To be perfectly honest, once I put in my earbuds and the music streaming from them enters my thoughts, most external influences fall away. My thoughts and feelings become centered on what I see in my mind’s eye. Everything I am becomes about relating what my imagination sends to my fingertips, and I get to convey, to the best of my ability, everything I see, hear, “touch,” “taste,” and “hear.”

One of the amazing things about being a writer is a sharp focus to give myself completely over to whatever is happening at the time. Whether something is happening on or off the page, there is a heightening of the senses that doesn’t seem to ever switch off. Often I’m overwhelmed, but have learned to temper what I’m sensing from around me.

A day in my life is crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My day pre-starts at 4 a.m. when my husband gets up for work. We chat as he dresses for the day, he reads a chapter or two out of the Bible and we pray, then I fall back to sleep for a few hours before it’s my turn to get up. I say a quick prayer, asking God to use me for His glory, and rouse our 15-year-old. He’s remote schooling this year. I pray with him, go through his studies, and then start the housework. Once the housework is done, I get to answer emails and messages on all my social networks. By then, it’s around noon, and I haven’t begun to write on any manuscript. If I am very lucky, I’ll have about two hours to promote one or two of my seventeen published novels before I write.

Lately, I’ve been writing about 30 minutes to an hour a day. The time is enough to release some of the creative energy and I feel great. One more check on our son’s school day before he logs off and I start dinner. We try to have dinner together as a family, schedules permitting this to happen, and then an hour or two of down-time with my husband before bed.

Every writer’s schedule is different, and each day brings its own challenges, but we couldn’t imagine not wanting to do what we do. We love it, and feel called to bring novels to readers. As an avid reader myself, I love when my favorite writers release new novels. It’s nice to read the thoughts from those who read the novels I write when they write a review. Those precious words encourage me and I’m grateful for each review I receive.

Min Eurozan by Cathy Jackson

I am no longer on Earth, nor any other place I know.

I have scant memory of how or why I came to be here.

Time continues to ebb and flow with my memories and the strange, seductive men who inhabit them.

The only constant is Love.

One owns my Body, he equally possesses and protects me.

One holds my Heart, wanting me as his friend and lover.

One challenges my Mind, he’s captured me with his patient intellect.

One completes my Soul, our love is the deepest and most pure.

One heats my Blood, bringing with him fire and need.

I love them all, and I love them as One.

 

Cathy Jackson is a midwestern Christian mother of two twentysomethings and two teenagers. Reading is a passion of hers, but she adores writing. Some of the best people have been placed in her life to help her publish her books. They are a blessing and mean more to her than they will ever know. She loves writing scenes that uplift and encourage along with making one feel the experience. She wants readers to finish the books feeling hope, love, and happiness. To date, the books she has published are inspirational (Christian) romances, but they have a contemporary romance feel.

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On the Page with Jen Mulvihill

By J.L. Mulvihill

“The new phone book is here! The new phone book is here!” Steve Martin screams out in excitement in the movie The Jerk.  “I’m somebody and this is the kind of spontaneous publicity that makes people.”

That is exactly how I feel every time a new book or story of mine comes out, or even when someone randomly mentions my name on Facebook. Ah, but this time I have gone bigger. This time a crazy person has allowed me to interview people on television for all the world to see ,and I am going to take advantage of this.

Okay, so maybe my show is not the only show to debut on Geeky Side TV, a new television network that has the geeky side of everyone talking. Geeky Side TV offers a peek into the world of

science, sci-fi, the abnormal and the paranormal.

My new show On the Page features me interviewing some of my favorite people, and I can’t believe that someone would just let me do that on television. It’s my total dream job, next to writing. My first interview is with one of the biggest and talented authors in paranormal romance, Sherrilyn (Kenyon) McQueen. I had the best time talking with her and listening to her share some fun childhood stories, like the time she traded her little brother for a wagon.

On the Page will be a weekly show of interviews, and I am hoping a little different from other interview shows. I decided when I was first asked to do this show that I would not ask the normal interview questions. Yes, of course everyone asks writers: Where do you get your ideas? What is your writing process? These are all very good questions and I love hearing the answers to them, but when an author has been asked the same questions over and over again, they tend to get a little cookie-cutter with their answers.

My evil plan is to ask questions they don’t expect. I don’t mean to dive into their deep dark secrets and embarrass them, I’m not that evil. I just think there are other ways to see people and who they are by asking what may seem like a simple question, but really shows you the depth of the person. If you want to find out what I mean, you will just have to watch the show.

I hope you will check out Geeky Side TV through Roku, Fire, or click on the link below. There are shows there that may intrigue you as well as my show, and lead you through a haunted New Orleans, cooking shows, or interviews with country western musicians. Yep, there is a wide variety of weekly shows and right now they are all free.

So, come on over to the Geeky Side and have some fun On the Page with Jen Mulvihill and Sherrilyn (Kenyon) McQueen.

 

Jen Mulvihill is an author who writes young adult, chillers, steampunk, and science fiction. You can find her works at jlmulvihill.com or Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as J L Mulvihill. You can also buy her books directly from Literary Underworld.